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NORTH AMERICAN FAUNA. 



[No. 11. 



Measurements.— Axer^ge of 2 males from Patzcuaro (type locality): 

 Total length, 510 j tail vertebrie, 201 5 hind foot, 53. An adult female 

 from same place; Total length, 400; tail vertebne, 150; hind foot, 42. 



PUTORIUS TROPICALIS sp. nov. Tropical Bridled Weasel. 



(PI. IIL figs.. 5, oa, 6, 6a.) 



Type from Jico, Vera Cruz, Mexico No. 54994, $ ad., U. S. Nat. Mas., Dept. Agric. 

 col]. Collected July 9, 1893, by E. W. Nelsou. Altitude 6,000 feet ( = 1,800 meters). 

 Original number 5195. 



Geographic di sir Unit iou. — The tropical coast belt of southern Mexico 

 and Guatemala from Vera Cruz southward. 



General characters. — Similar to Futorius frenatus, but much smaller 

 and darker, with the white face markings less extensive, the belly pale 

 orange instead of ochraceous, and under side of tail very much darker. 



Color. — Upper parts deep umber brown with a fulvous tone; head, 

 ears, and neck, black, passing gradually into brown of back just in 

 front of the shoulders; terminal one-fourth (or a little more) of tail, 

 black; face markings as in frenatus, but less extensive and whiter; 

 under parts ochraceous buff on throat and fore feet, becoming rich 

 orange buff on belly and inner side of thighs, whence (becoming paler) 

 the color reaches out in a narrow interrupted stripe along the inner 

 side of the hind feet to the toes, which are irregularly buffy. 



Cranial characters. — Skull of male similar in general to that of fre- 

 natus, but smaller, relatively longer, with less spreading zygomata, less 

 strongly developed postorbital i)rdcesses, and probably broader postor- 

 bital constriction (the type skull was infested with parasites) ; audital 

 bullae smaller and very much narrower; carnassial teeth and upper 

 molar smaller. The skull of the female is very much smaller than that 

 of the male, and has the smoothly rounded brain case of the cicognaiii 

 group, without trace of a sagittal ridge. The squamosals are strongly 

 inflated, resembling those of cicognani and the female of norehoracensis. 

 It differs from the female frenatiis in much smaller size, xqyy much 

 smaller audital bulhie, more inflated squamosals, smoothly rounded 

 brain case without trace of sagittal crest, and broader interorbital 

 constriction, which is immediately behind x)ostorbital processes instead 

 of one-fifth the distance from the processes to the occipital crest (fig. 15). 



Remarl's. — On first examining the skins of this weasel sent home by 

 Mr. kelson, I supposed it to be merely a tropical subspecies of frenat us; 

 but on comx)aring the skulls I am forced to accord it full specific rank. 

 The difference is greatest in the females, and is really very remarkable, 

 as may be seen from the accomx^anying figures (figs. 15 and 16). The 

 female of frenatns (tig. 16) resembles the male of the same species (pi. Ill, 

 fig. 1), while the female of tropicalis (fig. 15) resembles the cicognani 

 group — representing another section of the genus. The case is x)arallel 

 to that of P. novehoracensis already described. The female of tropicalis, 

 like that of novehoracensis, shows arrested development or absence of 



